xps 1330 cpu temp, I should be worried, shouldn't I?

Hi all,

It seems this is a semi-common problem, but I wanted to see if there was anything I could do about the temps on my xps 1330. It had always run pretty hot, but I figured it was due to all the high powered components in a very small package.

I mostly don't do anything too CPU intensive on this computer, some light gaming but mostly office work, however I started doing some video editing and I got worried about the high temps.

Well today I decided to take some readings and see exactly what was going on. I downloaded CPUZ, coretemp and speedfan and found out that after a few minutes at full load (4-5) my cpu underclocks itself, which I assume is because of the 95+ degrees celcius is quickly reaches.

The notebook is still under warranty (I actually have a 3 year at home service warranty, I got it about 6 months ago. Arent I glad it was part of the promotion they were running at the time...)

Should I contact dell and try to have them fix it? It seems to me like it would be a pretty serious problem in the long term.

Bit at a loss as to how best approach this problem

Historian

 

The CPU reaches 95C? If it's the GPU, read the link in my sig. If it's the CPU... definitely talk to dell.

 

Long term your M1330 would last you as long...

Try cleaning out your fans maybe? Dust stops airflow to the heatsink, thus increasing CPU + GPU temps..

 

It's the CPU that gets this warm, the idle temp is actually in the 60s, I should have added that info. I've checked out the fans, they're clean.

I think I'm going to have to contact Dell...

Edit: oh and the fan works perfect, it blows A LOT of scorching hot air... I can't even leave my hand at the back of the laptop for more than a few secs when the cpu load is 100%, I'd burn myself!

 

95 C for CPU?! Holy mother of god, you need to talk to Dell. It shouldn't get higher than 55-60 C UNDER LOAD!

 

more details:

I went in coretemp's log and it's telling me that the lowest temp it saw was 59C and the highest is 100C!!! looks like the CPU then underclocks and it settles in the low-mid 70s from that point on

 

Definitely talk to dell. The M1330 is notorious for heat problems, but this is even worse than most face. I'd open the system panel on the bottom and reseat my cooling assembly. It's the big door on the bottom with four screws. Take off the heatsink and fan assembly and clean off all the thermal grease, then apply a new coat and hope that it was just improperly seated or had too much thermal grease.

But first, have someone else confirm that this won't void your warranty

 

I suppose I knew all along that would be the consensus, yet hoping not to have to go through the hassle... I think I read somewhere that XPS support was better than the inspirons (my last notebook)... is it true?

Oh, and what are they likely to do? reseat the heatsink? replace the mobo?

 

Hard to say what they will do. Go into dell support chat, they're very good at supporting XPS's, what you heard was true. They'll send a tech to your house like the next day.

 

Yeah, XPS customer service really is pretty good. We called them about a miniscule dent on a brand new XPS m1210 we had ordered, and they gave us a new one, no questions asked (well, a few were asked, but it was like no hassle ). Don't try to open up yourself, though, I'm pretty sure it'll void your 3-year warranty.

 

copper mod?

 

Even more testing:

As previously state, Prime95 makes the CPU reach 100C and downclock itself, however, encoding a video with Adobe Premiere (which was what gave me the heat concern to start with) only seems to make the temp reach in the mid 80s with no downclocking. Am I correct to assume that this is also an unsafe temp?

Thanks a lot for all the quick and knowledgeable responses everyone!

 

You should be hitting a max of 65-70C on the CPU, but probably less than that even.

 

Why should be that the case?

Download Prime95 of at least version 25.6, launch and do these settings:

Menu Advanced:
[x] Round Off Checking ...
click menu / Options / Torture Test ...
[x] Small FFTs
[x] Number of torture test threads to run: 2 (for DualCore)

And you most likely will hit >90°C if you do not use a cooling notebook stand (Zahlman NC-1000 ...).

The settings I gave above are considered worst case scenarios. The idea is: If you notebook doesn't overheat/crash/calculate wrong numbers using Prime95 with those settings, then it will work flawless in any other application.

It requires more knowledge than just reading a number, but to make a long story short: Intel specifies a T_Junction Temp of 100°C for your processor:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLA3T

That means any operation up to 100°C is considered by intel datasheets operation within specification. Dell throttle kicks in at 95°C AFAIK.

However high temps are not good for the durability of the processor. I suggest you look for an undervolting guide and your processor will most likely never reach 80°C again (neither with Prime95 nor with Adobe Premiere).

 

I'm now quite relieved, I've gone ahead and followed the undervolting guide as suggested by 7oby and after extensive testing everything is rock solid stable with an undervolting of o.2v and an idle temp of 46C (down from 60) and a max load temp of 73 (down from hitting 100). Looks like I won't be calling Dell in the morning.

 

You should still contact dell in the future. Your m1330 shouldnt be overheating out of the box. Undervolting shouldnt have to be used to fix it.

 

You're right, especially since I'm going to be spending most of next year in Europe. I'm leaving in 6 weeks, I really should get it fixed before I'm stuck in Paris with a dead notebook...

 

I understand what you mean, but who exactly says that?

I'm rather convinced that a 65nm Core2Duo CPU running at default voltage >= 2GHz will peak 100°C without notebook stand like Zalmann NC-1000. Given you feed it with the above mentioned Prime95 settings. Using general purpose applications you won't hit the 100°C easily (x264 may be able to).

Strictly speaking in the language of "intel processor specification" documents the CPU isn't overheating.

 

So given that the notebook has presumably acted like this since I've had it (6 months) without isses other than being very hot, that hitting 100C is actually within the specs for the processor, that it only got that hot with P95 and that it now only gets to 70-75 with P95 after undervolting (which if understand correctly is actually quite cool for a C2D under that kind of load) I'm inclined to let it be, at least for a while and monitor it closely.

Many thanks and rep to everyone who helped and looked into this

 

Another way for saying undervolting is to have actually turned a

35 Watt TDP mobile CPU
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLA3T

into a
17 Watt TDP mobile CPU
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLA3R

Despite the slightly different core clock and cache size. Just look at the VID Voltage Range and compare TDP. And keep in mind the L-Version or even U-Versions of those CPUs are much more expensive!

 

Your saying its totally fine to hit 100c to the point of downclocking? Thats ridicilous and also bad advice. Gaming is more than enough to stress the CPU like ORTHOS

None of my CoreDuo or Core2Duos have hit 85+ out of the box. I test all my systems as soon as i get them

Your notebook out of the box should never overheat to the point of downclocking, regardless how much you stress it. If it does, then theres a problem with it

Sure it works but i can guarantee you the cpu wont live its full life.

 

Please read my postings carefully!

I said that Dell engineered the cooling and fan assembly in a way that in certain very unlikely cases thermal throtteling is required to stay within thermal specification for intel chipsets. That is due to customers demanding for higher clock speeds, budget and space constraints in small notebooks.

I'm not talking about M1730 oder M1530, which has two dedicated heat pipelines for CPU and GPU.

We're talking M1330 with one heatpipe for up to three chips: CPU, PM965, GeForce 8400M GS. Putting a 65nm Merom CPU >= 2GHz with certain VID specification in this laptop and not using a notebook stand clearly overburdens the cooling solution. I've done testing, I did talk to Dell Techs about it, I have sufficient insight in specifications and I'm experienced enough to say that for sure.

Yes it's true that sometimes the heat pipeline is not attached properly to the GPU and reseating the cooling solution helps to lower temperatures. But so far I've seen that only applying to the GPU and never to the CPU, which doesn't use this blue thermal pad anyway.

In 99.5% of all use cases temperatures will stay below throttle threshold. In 0.5% of the use cases and some synthetic software, you can't do without throttling given the constraints of the M1330.

Your statement regarding below 85°C qualifies for not having sufficient experience in this area. Google intel thermal analysis tool (TAT) and do some research in case you're interested. Stop insulting me if you don't have qualified information to share and say "I disagree" instead of "Thats ridicilous". This especially applies to moderators. I can live with other people having different opinions about certain topics.

Technically speaking your notebook isn't overheating and this is what I elaborated the postings before. I also made clear that it's NOT at all desirable to have a CPU running >= 85°C and pointed to undervolting to prevent that.

If you can't garantee that intel CPUs won't last their warranty life time if they are kept within their thermal specifications that doesn't matter too much. Intel garantees it and they are happy to replace any CPU broken due to thermal stress within warranty. However you have to contact Dell for that. Here's some basic information about failure rates, thermal stress and warranty:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3251&p=5
The remainder is found in intel specification documents.

 

lol no, you said:

You sound convinced that hitting 100c and overheating is normal so i said:

Make sense? ... It downclocks for a good reason. (to stop hardware damage)

They didnt call the XPS an extreme performance system just so it can hit 100c, overheat and downclock.

Hey ive got that exact same setup, but only reaches 79c maximum with no cooling aids. Amazing..

Heavy gaming says otherwise. I can get the same max temps of a simulated stress test (orthos/prime95,TAT) with heavy gaming (even just with bf2) ..meaning i can easily hit thermal throttling just by gaming. Alot of alienware m15x have this issue.

I said none of my cpu's have hit 85c+, your telling me i do not have sufficient experience on my own temperatures
Interesting, the intel thermal analysis tool...never heard of it before...lol

I said i can guarantee it wont live it full life if its overheating and running high temps all the time. I think we all know by now heat kills cpu's.

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Anyway im just messing with you, no need to post long stuff.